Sunday, April 16, 2017

Security In Iraq, April 1-7, 2017

The on going Battle for Mosul continued to drive violence
across Iraq in April 2017. In the rest of the country attacks have been going
steadily down for the last few months, especially in places like Baghdad, which
has seen the fewest incidents and casualties in years.

There were 169 incidents in Iraq from April 1-7 reported in
the press. That was the most since 171 from March 8-14. There were 88 incidents
in Ninewa, followed by 32 in Baghdad, 17 in Diyala, 9 in Salahaddin, 9 in
Anbar, 7 in Kirkuk, 3 in Basra, 3 in Babil, and 1 in Najaf.

Security Incidents In Iraq, Apr 1-7, 2017

Najaf 1

Babil 3

Basra 3

Kirkuk 7

Anbar 9

Salahaddin 9

Diyala 17

Baghdad 32

Ninewa 88

Those incidents led to a total of 848 deaths consisting of 3
Sahwa, 6 Peshmerga, 13 Hashd al-Shaabi, 52 members of the Iraqi Security Forces
(ISF), and 774 civilians. There were 427 injured made up of 1 Sahwa, 7
Peshmerga, 28 ISF, and 391 Civilians. Ninewa was the deadliest province with
739. After that fatalities were very low with 42 in Salahaddin, 21 in Anbar, 19
in Baghdad, 16 in Diyala, 7 in Kirkuk, 3 in Babil, and 1 in Basra. Baghdad for
example used to regularly average triple digit deaths last year, but now is
witnessing some of the lowest figures since the 2003 invasion.

Reported Deaths In Iraq, Apr 1-7, 2017

Basra 1

Babil 3

Kirkuk 7

Diyala 16

Baghdad 19

Anbar 21

Salahaddin 42

Ninewa 739

Reported Wounded In Iraq, Apr 1-7, 2017

Kirkuk 1

Anbar 5

Babil 6

Diyala 21

Salahaddin 57

Baghdad 80

Ninewa 257

In Anbar there were 9 incidents, 21 dead, and 5 wounded. That
was highlighted by a suicide
car bomb that hit the Iraqi forces in Fallujah, and a car bomb that was
destroyed, another was that was discovered and dismantled, and five suicide
bombers that were killed. Anbar officials and security forces were relieved
that most of these were unsuccessful, but at the same time are increasingly
concerned that they continue to plague the province. The number of incidents in
Anbar has been on a steady decline since the summer of 2016 when there was an
average of 4.1 per day versus just 1 per day in February and March, yet the
attempts at mass casualty bombings remain high.

The number of incidents remained low in Babil, but there was
suddenly a spate of large bombings during the first week of April. A suicide
bomber and a car bomb hit the city of Iskandiriya during the middle of the
week. The last time there was a similar type of attack was back in November
2016. Babil is the only governorate in Iraq where there used to be a sizeable
Islamic State presence that was expelled, and never returned. It’s unclear
whether these bombings marked some type of comeback for the group or were just
sent from neighboring Anbar or southern Baghdad to sow chaos.

Baghdad is witnessing the lowest violence seen in years.
There were just 32 incidents leading to 19 deaths and 80 wounded. In March and
April 2017 there were an average of 4 incidents per day compared to 10 in
August and September 2016. Incidents have been going down ever since the Mosul
campaign started in October of last year. While IS still has cells operating in
the southern and northern towns outside the capital itself, it looks like they
pulled back some of their forces to defend Mosul since there were no large
security operations in Baghdad to account for the decline.

In February there were growing concerns about increasing
violence in Basra. That has now subsided. There are still a few incidents per
week, but they have gone back down to their average. At the start of April for
instance, there were just 3 incidents, with a teacher being shot and killed.

Diyala, Kirkuk and Salahaddin are where the insurgents
either maintain territory or are rebuilding. Usually there are just a few
incidents in the three governorates, but attempts at mass casualty bombings.
That was seen in Kirkuk and Salahaddin. In the former there were 7 incidents, 7
deaths, and 1 injured. In Salahaddin there were 9 incidents, but 42 killed and
57 injured. The large number of casualties was due to five suicide bombers
infiltrating the downtown area, probably to mark the anniversary of the liberation
of the city in 2015. They left 35 dead and 42 wounded. In Diyala however,
attacks have been picking up. There were 17 incidents leaving 16 dead and 21
injured. Since August 2016 there has only been an average of 1 incident per day
so this was a doubling of violence. Still, while there were three clashes with
the Islamic State, most of the other events were IEDs or drive by shootings.

The Battle for Mosul entered its sixth month. There were 88
incidents in Ninewa leaving 739 fatalities and 257 wounded. The vast majority
of those, 705 killed and 253 injured, were civilians who have taken the brunt
of the fighting. As the Islamic State has lost ground in the city it has killed
more and more people who have attempted to flee or to intimidate people from
trying. The group was blamed for 188 executions during the week. Many times
these people were hung on electricity polls or dumped in streets to intimidate the
population. Iraqi and Coalition air strikes and shelling also took their toll
with 275 deaths and 162 wounded. The Iraqis and Coalition have increased their
use of these heavy munitions in the fighting in west Mosul, and this has been
the result.

Security In Iraq 2017

Date

Incidents

Dead

Wounded

Jan 1-7

188

509

1,346

Jan 8-14

168

371

1,036

Jan 15-21

137

583

1,264

Jan 22-28

145

289

310

Jan 29-31

74

127

338

JAN

712

1,879

4,294

Feb
1-7

123

388

176

Feb 8-14

164

434

390

Feb 15-21

146

383

505

Feb 22-28

184

645 + 399

1,388 + 1,634

FEB

617

1,850 +
399

2,459 +
1,634

Mar 1-7

179

749

622

Mar 8-14

171

551

614

Mar 15-21

142

560

1,166

Mar 22-28

152

1,233

575

Mar 29-31

71

374 + 278

288 + 2,925

MAR

715

3,467 +
278

3,265 +
2,925

Apr 1-7

169

848

427

Violence In Iraq By Province, Apr 1-7, 2017

Province

Violence

Anbar

9 Incidents

21 Killed: 2 Sahwa, 7 ISF,
12 Civilians

5 Wounded: 5 ISF

1 Shooting

1 IED

1 Sound Bomb

1 Suicide Car Bomb

5 Suicide Bombers Killed

1 Suicide Car Bomb
Destroyed

1 Car Bomb Dismantled

Babil

3 Incidents

3 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 2
Civilians

6 Wounded: 3 Civilians, 3
ISF

1 IED

1 Suicide Bomber

1 Car Bomb

Baghdad

32 Incidents

19 Killed: 1 ISF, 18
Civilians

80 Wounded: 1 ISF, 79
Civilians

4 Shootings

22 IEDs

1 Sticky Bomb

1 Suicide Bomber Killed

Basra

3 Incidents

1 Killed: 1 Civilian

1 Gunfire

2 Stun Grenades

Diyala

17 Incidents

16 Killed: 5 Civilians, 5
ISF, 6 Peshmerga

21 Wounded: 1 Sahwa, 8
Civilians, 12 ISF

6 Shootings

11 IEDs

2 Mortars

Kirkuk

7 Incidents

7 Killed: 7 Civilians

1 Wounded: 1 Civilian

1 Shooting

1 IED

Najaf

1 Incident

Ninewa

88 Incidents

739 Killed: 9 Hashd, 10
ISF, 15 Police, 705 Civilians

257 Wounded: 4 Police, 253
Civilians

20 Shootings

4 Car Bombs

19 Mortars

2 Rockets

3 Motorcycle Bombs
Destroyed

5 Suicide Bombers Killed

1 Suicide Car Bomb
Destroyed

24 Car Bombs Destroyed

Salahaddin

9 Incidents

42 Killed: 4 Hashd, 14 ISF,
24 Civilians

57 Wounded: 3 ISF, 7
Peshmerga, 47 Civilians

6 Shootings

2 IEDs

3 Suicide Bombers

3 Car Bombs

1 Mortar

21 Suicide Bombers Killed

SOURCES

Al
Aaalem, "Video: Fierce battles on the right bank of Mosul and a bomb
explosion against the security forces yesterday," 4/3/17

IRAQ HISTORY TIMELINE

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com